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Over the past few months I have become increasingly convinced that the world of agilism is losing sight, little by little, of what is really important.
Right now we are at a juncture where agile methods have finally arrived at large Spanish companies and are even talked about in board meetings.
However, this has happened, not so much on its own merit, but thanks in part to the publicity it has received from bank ads which “have done away with managers and departments” and papers from big consultancy firms about “tribes and squads,” which, in my opinion, have barely scratched the surface of what being agile is all about.
This type of contents, albeit very helpful for spreading agilism, also causes agilism to lose its true essence bit by bit.
Conventional wisdom has it that the first step to overcome a problem is to acknowledge it. Well, we have all realized – some of us sooner than others – that there are many companies in our country that need to renew themselves in order to stay competitive. Indeed, it is starting to be clear now that undergoing a technological upgrade is not enough; a change in mentality and in they way of working is also necessary. Hence, the boom of the cultural transformation toward agile values and principles.
Like any trend or fad, cultural transformation has its supporters and detractors.
On the one hand, there are those who think that it is all just a bunch of hot air and that a need that has been created to milk large companies. On the other, there are those who seem to have an infallible kit for agilizing and transforming companies and use the same formula everywhere they go. Furthermore, if you don’t do all the things the say, the way they say it, you’re not on the right path.
As with most things, virtue lies in the middle. Things are rarely black or white.
Ever since I started working, one of the things that have always caught my attention is the workspaces, especially those intended for collaborative work. I think that we do not attach enough importance to them and that they are an obvious catalyst for change.
Today we are slowly doing away with office models such as “Action Office” and “Open plan,” which became popular during the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st.
Companies that need ‘teams working together’ nowadays go for a mix of open floor plan and a certain customizable space for teams. In order to do so, they use diverse techniques. Let us see some of them.
After a year working at Paradigma Digital, I think I can take stock of their particular way of working, with the critical view of the rookie but having been immersed in the ‘Paradigmatic culture’ long enough to be able to say that my co-workers, with the example they set every day, demand that I be a pig.
If you are starting to get into blockchain, you will very likely have asked yourself the following question: Who decides what gets written in the network? Who validates the transactions in a blockchain network?
Well, the most correct answer is ‘it depends’. Each blockchain network decides what the transactions are by using what is known as a consensus algorithm.
It would seem that in the past few months companies have finally become aware of the importance of culture as a fundamental pillar in their digital transformation process.
The problem is that this interest in culture has come in the form of a ‘teenage fashion trend’. Apparently all companies today have to embrace agilism and create tribes, even if they do not know full well what it is all about or understand the real impact this change will have.
Big companies are ardently devoted to practices, those miraculous remedies that can transform a company quickly and painlessly. These remedies are based on the same magical compound that makes cellulite-fighting creams, abdominal appliances and hair growth tonics work. The passion for shoehorning tribes and squads into companies stems from this school of thought.
Although we are already looking forward to Big Data Spain 2019, we would like to start off the year with a brief overview of this year’s edition.
After more than 90 speakers managed to bring together almost 1700 attendees, today we look back at Big Data Spain 2018 to remember the talks that had the greatest impact.
Thus, we tell you how the 7th edition of the conference went with the help of these seven clips. Do not miss them!
2018 is coming to an end, a year where we have seen many technologies burst onto the scene; some of them have definitively become a part of our lives, whereas others have reached the end of the line and we have bid them adieu.
Nevertheless, come this time of the year, the million-dollar question is: what does 2019 have in store for the IT industry? Which technologies will win us over in the coming months?
Of course, we do not have a magic ball to see the future with but we can still draw some patterns from the main technological fields and intuit where the future of technology lies – at least in 2019.
You probably are familiar with this wonderful quote: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. And it is not even from Abraham Lincoln’s! Apparently Derek Bok, a President of Harvard University, said it.
If we had to explain why education is important, we would not lack in arguments, but surely they would lead to a long discussion with philosophical connotations about progress and rights. Bok’s phrase is brilliant because it quickly synthesizes a complex concept by means of a brutal contraposition of ideas.
The same happens with design. There is no shortage of arguments to defend how bringing in – good – designers can help your business, but it can take a long time to explain it, with messages that are probably too dense and specialized.
That is why I have tried to emulate Bok, but since my feeble copy will not be enough to convince you, I am going to redouble my efforts and give you three examples where poor design – not only graphic design but also at different levels of impact – has cost a lot.
Time management is a kind of superpower that some people have and allows them to use their working hours more efficiently, making their work be of a higher quality and shine much more, and also with less stress.
It is a special superpower, not because you are born with it, like Superman, but because anyone can acquire it with a little learning and practice. So if you are reading this, you should get started as soon as possible, because once the superpower begins to emerge it will give you an incredible advantage in your job and your life, and its effect will last forever.
